Washington (Woodrow Wilson) DC beat Sarasota (Rvierview) FL, 69-55, in the first consolation game to open the second day of action in this year's Culligan City of Palms Classic, which is being held all this week at Florida Southwest State College in Ft. Myers, FL.

It was like lightning struck twice in the same spot when the University of Maryland-bound 6'10 Makhi Mitchell from Washington (Woodrow Wilson) DC knocked down two straight threes to give his team a 6-0 led early in the first game of the day on the first day of action at this year's Culligan City of Palms Classic, which is being held all this week at Florida Southwest State College in Ft.

With 6'8 Onyeka Okongw from Chino Hills (H.S.) CA, 6'9 Isaiah Mobley from Temecula (Rancho Christian) CA, 6'3 Kyle Sturdivant from Norcross (H.S.) GA, 6'8 Max Agbonkolo from Rancho Santa Margarita (Santa Margarita Catholic) CA, and 6'6 Drake London from Moorpark (H.S.) CA all in the fold, there shouldn't be much doubt about the fact that USC has the #1-ranked recruiting class in our Exclusive Ranking of the Top Recruiting Classes After the Conclusion of the Fall Signing Period for the Class of 2019.

Things started out with a bang on Friday night when 6'5 Anthony Edwards from Atlanta (Holy Spirit) GA went for 41 points in his team's 85-73 win against Washington (Archbishop) DC in the first game at the 2018 ARS Rescue Rooter National HoopFest, which is being held this weekend at DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, MD.

After watching 6'7 E.J. Liddell from Belleville (West) IL finish with 42 points and 16 rebounds in his team's 77-60 win over Madisonville (North Hopkins) KY and 22 points and 14 rebounds in his team's 74-68 win over Jackson (Callaway) MS in the Marshall County Hoopfest, which was held over the weekend at Marshall County High School in Benton, KY, it is pretty clear that he is one of the most undervalued players nationally in the Class of 2019.

The big story at the 2018 Pangos All-Midwest Frosh/Soph Camp, which was held over the weekend at The Park District of La Grange in La Grange, IL, was the fact that 6'9 Soph Patrick Baldwin from Sussex (Hamilton) WI was back in attendance for a third consecutive year and this time around it was pretty obvious that he was the best player in camp.

6'11 Jr Evan Mobley from Temecula (Rancho Christian) CA - It was clear that the younger Mobley took his game to another level last spring at the Magic Memorial Day Festival and the Pangos All-American Camp and he firmly established himself as the best player in the nation regardless of class when the dust had cleared at the conclusion of all of the tournaments at the end of the summer in Las Vegas.

It was a good old-fashioned shootout in the Top 30 Cream of the Crop All-Star Game at the 2018 Pangos All-West Frosh/Soph Camp, which was held over the weekend at Westminster High School in Westminster, CA. We're talking about the fact that 6'4 Soph Devin Askew from Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA, 6'3 Soph Isael Silva from Carmichael (Jesuit) CA, 6'0 Soph T.J.

6'4 Jalen Lecque from Wolfeboro (Brewster Academy) NH (N.C. State)- Lecque was one of the guys who helped himself the most this past spring and summer and he was clearly one of the better players at the NBA Players Association Top 100 Camp, where he finished ranked #7 in scoring 11.3 ppg and tied at #3 in assists with 3.3 apg.

At this point it looks like the big winner on the recruiting trail this fall is USC, which has two likely McDonald's All-Americans already in the fold in 6'8Onyeka Okongw from Chino Hills (H.S.) CA and 6'9 Isaiah Mobley from Temecula (Rancho Christian) CA, as well as two more guys that are ranked in the 50-100 range nationally in 6'8 Max Agbonkolo from Rancho Santa Margarita (Santa Margarita Catholic) CA and 6'6 Drake London from Moorpark (H.S.) CA.

Two years ago it looked like the Class of 2019 would be the next great class in high school basketball. However, it now is starting to remind of us of the Class of 1999, which clearly was not up to the hype, as Donnell Harvey edged out the likes of Marvin Stone, Keith Bogans, Joe Forte, Jason Williams, Caron Butler, LaVell Blanchard, Carlos Boozer, Jason Richardson, Jason Gardner, Brett Nelson, Ken Satterfield, et al.

Sometimes there just isn't much eliminate of doubt about who should be the #1-ranked player. And this was the case in all three divisions at this year's Phenom Girls Camp, which was held this past weekend at Alliant University in San Diego, CA, as 5'5 Soph Natalie Jasper from Pittsburgh, PA finished as the #1-ranked player in the High School Division, 5'4 Frosh Kayleigh Gugliotta from Central Park, OR finished as the #1-ranked player in the Middle School Division, and 5'0 6th Grader Ariana Hallstrom from San Leandro, CA finished as the #1-ranked player in the Elementary School Division.

Size and versatility are always at a premium in basketball and this year's Phenom Top 150 Camp, which was held this past weekend at Alliant University in San Diego, CA, featured several very intriguing big men and a slew multi-dimensional athletes with good size for their position.

The theme of July's third and final live NCAA evaluation period in Las Vegas was the big bang and thud. The early big bang on Wednesday slowly dispersed until all the residue from it was gone by Sunday 5 PM Pacific Time. Literally, the college coaches were heading to Sin City’s McCarran International Airport per NCAA regulations that state coaches must be out of the city’s gyms by that time.

Character, attitude, work ethic, and unselfishness are important ingredients in being successful on the hardwood and, as a result, they are almost always factored into the equation when it comes time to break ties or win close calls. But there are times when a player is just flat out better than everybody else and it would be wrong to penalize that player because you don't like his style, court demeanor, and how he plays the game.

Last weekend wasn’t just any weekend in New Jersey. It was “The Weekend,” a fascinating gathering of 24 elite-level high school programs from New Jersey, New York and Delaware during precious July live recruiting time, organized for the second year in a row at Montclair State University by New Jersey Playaz director Jim Salmon.

With 14 seconds left in the semi-finals game between Phenom University and Mean Streets, it looked like deja vu all over again for the host team in the 2018 NY2LA Sports Summer Jam. which was held this past week at Homestead High School in Mequon, WI.

There were a number of big stories at this year's EYBL (Elite Youth Basketball League) Finals at the Peach Jam, which was held last week at the Riverview Park Activities Center in North Augusta, SC. And right at the top of the list is the fact that Team Takeover totally annihilated Team Whynot, 96-78, in the Championship Game.

With our #1, #2, #3, and #4-ranked players nationally (R.J. Barrett, Zion Williamson, Cameron Reddish, and Tre Jones) all in the fold, along with another top 40-ranked player nationally (Joey Baker), it should come as no surprise that Duke University has the #1-ranked recruiting class in our Final Ranking of the Top 50 Recruiting Classes for the Class of 2018.

1) Anfernee Simons, 6'4, 2018, 2G, Bradenton (IMG Academy) FL (Portland Trail Blazers) - Simons has big time athleticism, is an absolute scoring machine, and was the flavor of the day last summer after being ranked #4 overall and #1 at his position at the Pangos All-American Camp and #3 overall in Las Vegas.